Study on epoxy resin with high elongation-at-break using polyamide and polyether amine as a two-component curing agent

Abstract

This study aimed to improve the flexibility of E-51 epoxy resin by using polyamide/polyether amine as a two-component curing agent. Through solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR), it was found that the cross-linking density of epoxy resin could be effectively reduced by adding the polyamide and polyether amine curing agent. The tensile tests showed that the elongation-at-break was remarkably improved. It was found by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) that the curing behavior of the polyamide epoxy curing system varied with the addition of different polyether amine. Phase contrast microscope showed that phase separation occurred during the reaction of epoxy resin with the polyamide/polyether amine composite curing agent. In this paper, the modified epoxy resin was endowed with high elongation-at-break (>100%) and appropriate tensile strength (10~20 MPa).